"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." - George Bernard Shaw

I've got a Gaggia Classic Coffee with a PID fitted, an Iberital MC2 auto grinder, I use a hand-made aluminium tamper, and a polished stainless milk jug with thermometer. I buy Italian-roasted beans from a local supplier.

On workdays, I usually only make a couple of small-but-evil double ristrettos for my wife and myself before we jump on the train to work. Any drink that makes you pull a whisky face but isn't whisky has to have something going for it.

At the weekends, I like to try a bit of alchemy with hot milk; chocolate; hazelnut syrup and all that. I've finally managed to get my lattes to stay separated! (It's all in the temperature of the milk, you know...)

Coffee is great for the digestion, especially after a big pasta meal, so should be considered at least devotional if not sacred IMHO.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical and cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." Abraham Lincoln"Are you OK?" daftbeaker (<-- very good question, people should ask it more often.)

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Thanks for that it's very interesting. I have been trying to get a good cup of coffee at home for years. It sounds like it could be worth me buying a coffee bean grinder to get really fresh coffee. I have two methods for making the coffee:

1. A French Press/cafetiere...which the article doesn't recommend but I find gives a good flavour.

2. Bialetti Moka Express Espresso Maker

The smoke wafted gently in the breeze across the poop deck and all seemed right in the world.

Yeah, it is. If you're just making drip-style coffee, a blade grinder will suffice. If you really like your espressos/cappuccinos/etc, invest in a burr grinder.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

For example, the Nespresso Arpeggio costs $5.70 for 10 espresso capsules, while the Folgers Black Silk blend for a K-Cup brewed-coffee machine is $10.69 for 12 pods. But that Nespresso capsule contains 5 grams of coffee, so it costs about $51 a pound. And the Folgers, with 8 grams per capsule, works out to more than $50 a pound.

Fifty bucks a pound for mediocre coffee!? You can get Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, arguably the best coffee in the world, for $35-$50 a pound. Reminds me of the title of that Dead Kennedys album, "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death."

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Yes!I am one of those people who like convenience as well as flavor. Another thing I also like is not to make a mess every time I make coffee. So yes, I am willing to pay a little more for great coffee that comes in an already pree measured pod that I can drop into a gadget that attaches to a machine, and after flipping a knob the coffee or espresso comes out just right into my cup. If I want a latte I flip another knob and froth some milk to add to my coffee. A little flavored syrup (sugar free, of course) added and it is heaven!

Hey, my Espresso Italya machine does me proud in no time at all with no mess to clean up.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Gotta grind it fresh, and if you want to get consistent crema and texture, it's gotta be a burr grinder to give you control of the grind fine-ness (if that's a proper word). Then you've got the water temperature (hence the PID in my machine) and the tamping pressure to perfect your espresso just the way you like it. Making a proper coffee isn't a convenience thing, it's an art. You want convenience? Use Nescafe.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical and cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." Abraham Lincoln"Are you OK?" daftbeaker (<-- very good question, people should ask it more often.)